Effective July 1, 2018, salary history laws become effective in both the city of San Francisco, California and the state of Massachusetts.
San Francisco
Employers in San Francisco are prohibited from asking about a job applicant’s current or prior salaries; relying on an applicant’s salary history in determining whether to make a job offer and what salary to offer; retaliating against an applicant for refusing to disclose salary history; and releasing a current or former employee’s salary history without written authorization (unless disclosure is required by law or the information is publicly available).
The salary history ban covers all types of jobs, including temporary work, seasonal work, and commissioned work. However, an employer may consider a job applicant’s salary history if it is disclosed voluntarily, without prompting from the employer.
Full text of the San Francisco law.
Massachusetts
According to the Pay Equity Act, employers are prohibited from requiring salary history from applicants before receiving a formal job offer. Employees may, however, freely volunteer such information with co-workers.
Specifically, it shall be unlawful for an employer to:
- Require, as a condition of employment, that an employee refrain from inquiring about, discussing or disclosing information about the employee’s own wages or about any other employee’s wages.
- Seek the wage or salary history of a prospective employee from said employee or a former employer.
- Retaliate, in any manner, against the employee because said employee opposed a practice made unlawful by the act.
*Massachusetts was the first state to pass such legislation.
Full text of the Massachusetts law.
For more information on salary history and whether it affects your state, visit our resource guide at https://www.hireimage.com/background-check-resource-library/salary-history-in-the-hiring-process/
